Firstbite
by TheMonsterGirl
Summary: Toothiana had one standing opinion when it came to newborn spirits and holidays and that was 'the more the merrier.' But, as they say, there is a first time for everything.


**AN: Hi all!**

**I was watching RotG and started wondering... Obviously Jack is familiar to some extent with North, Bunnymund and Sandy at their first meeting at the Pole, so I figure he must have at least crossed paths with Tooth or her fairies at some point or another :-) This is my idea of how Tooth came to develop her crush on Jack. Because there isn't enough Frostbite out there ^_^**

**Enjoy!**

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Toothiana had one standing opinion when it came to newborn spirits and holidays and that was 'the more the merrier.' The Fairy Queen was fairly hard to upset in any regard, but especially so when it came to her young peers. She just loved getting to know all the strange, fun, quirky, or heartfelt creatures that were created to represent and defend their respective causes. Never before had she looked upon one of the newcomers with anything but welcoming enthusiasm.

But, as they say, there_ is _a first time for everything.

She had heard _rumors_. A collective number of words, in fact, that formed a rather sharp opinion about the newest addition to their fabled family. He'd only surfaced little more than the decade before, but he'd already made quite the name for himself, that Jack Frost, and it was 'Trouble'.

Granted, much of what she'd heard of him had been from her fellow Guardian, who was known to be a bit of a crank if you could get under his skin in just the right way, but his grumblings seemed to echo throughout the mythical community. Jack Frost was an annoyance, an irritation, a shyster, and an irresponsible prankster. He was not to be trusted and better left ignored.

The Tooth Fairy had never been one to listen to baseless rumors, but when a number of her fairies started returning to her floating palace panicked and confused, their tiny hands clutching frosty replicas of their intended bounty she had to reluctantly admit there may be _some _validity to all the gossip.

He always returned them. Slipped them under another toothless child's pillow the following evening, sometimes accompanying _that _child's tooth, sometimes in replacement of it; the teeth always made it back into her hands.

But it was annoying.

Her fairies would fume and chase after the ghostly laughter in the night, trying for all their worth to retrieve the pocketed memories, but they never so much as caught a glimpse of him. The North Wind was his only friend and it hid him well.

If only they could catch him! Maybe they would be able to stop him, maybe she could explain to him, explain why the teeth were so important and why it was in such bad humor for him to be taking them in the first place. But the Winter Spirit was almost impossible to pin down. He could hide in climates that drove most creatures away, climates that made her feathers stand on end.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let the trickster know the importance of the teeth, anyway; it may just add a whole new level of fun in thieving them.

Tooth hummed, a soft edge of frustration laced into the quiet noise. Winter was a difficult time of year as it was. With children outside, running and playing in the pearl white snow, teeth were easily lost. Dropped from their pockets or straight out of their smiling mouths, the little drops of ivory were difficult for even her fairies to retrieve once buried in ice and frost.

An unfortunate number memories had to be left to sit until spring, when her fairies would scramble to collect them all before they were lost and broken forever. And despite their best efforts there was always _some _damaged beyond repair.

Now she had to worry about keeping track of which teeth were actually lost, and which were in the possession of the infamous Ice Prince. She made a quick mental tally, her feathered brow furrowed in concentration as she sifted through the dozens of lost teeth they'd dogeared for search and rescue.

One hundred and forty seven missing teeth. One hundred and forty three that were _actually _missing, and four that were currently in the possession of Old Man Winter.

Tooth pressed a few dainty fingers to each temple and tried to push down the oncoming headache. She hadn't realized it before, but it seemed he had changed the game in a worrying sort of way; two of the teeth he'd kept for well over a week now, the third he'd had for four days, and the fourth he'd nicked the night previous and had yet to return.

Before he had _always _put them back on the path leading to her hands within a day or so and never kept more than one at a time. So why was he hoarding them now?

As the irritation mounted in the back of her head it occurred to her that the annoyance was not wholly her own. At least in a sense.

The Fairy Queen, distracted and concerned by the sudden spike of annoyed distress, drifted down to the lower levels of her Tooth Palace where a number of her Mini Fairies had gathered. She floated to a stop on the furthest platform down, feathers ruffled, ears perked. None of her precious little helpers had come to elicit her attention, so she wasn't entirely sure how serious the situation was or whether or not she should intervene.

Although, technically her fairies were an extension of herself, they were born from a subconscious part of her mind. They exhibited emotions and behaviors she oftentimes didn't see in herself, or at least didn't recognize. Over the years, it had become much easier for her to think of them as her dear little children or precious friends rather than just extra hands or tools for tooth collecting. And, like every subconscious, child, or friend, there were times where, for better or worse, they tried to shelter her from something.

This, she feared, was one of those times.

Her feet touched down on the cool stone shelf, wings reluctantly folding to a halt, trying to make as little noise as possible. Tucking herself behind the central pillar, she peeked down to the little cove below and squeaked in surprise, every feather on her body spiked.

A chill she was not entirely convinced was just nerves crept through her plumage as she watched a frosty specter skate his way around the frozen inlet, looping in, out, and between her peevish fairies. For a moment she was almost impressed. She had to wonder how _anyone _could evade her little helpers' quick, hummingbird-like pursuit. Then one came just a bit too close, one small hand outstretched to latch on to his cloak... and suddenly she was tumbling backwards, wings fluttering frantically to right herself as the air stirred with a mischievous whistle.

Tooth crossed her arms over her chest with an indignant huff. _Cheater! _

The arctic spirit barked back a jovial laugh, his wintry voice pulling the fairies into the chase with renewed ire.

_Fine, _she thought, an odd little smirk ghosting over peachtree lips. _Two can play on the unexpected. _Fuchsia eyes slipped shut as the air around her warmed, her thoughts running clear and concentrated.

A fairy with a single, curling gold feather adorning her tiny forehead appeared at her side, chittering curiously. Toothiana smiled softly, momentarily forgetting her irritation with the uninvited guest as she crooned over the new addition to her assistance. This fairy was special. Tooth shared a strong bond and mental link with all her dedicated helpers, but she had poured an extra portion of her heart and soul into this one. In a far corner of her mind, like an echo, she could hear and see everything this small piece of herself recorded.

"Alright, Little One," she whispered, letting the flyspeck creature land nimbly on her palm so she could draw her in close, "We are going to have a little fun with the infamous King of Chaos."

The fairy cheered, mirroring her mother's wicked grin as she flexed her new wings. They were strong for her miniscule size, stronger than sisters' and laced with gold. She would not be easily blown off course by a simple gust of wind.

Tooth drew her close and whispered her game plan into the tiny creature's feathered ear before turning her loose on the prankster with her own delighted titter. She leaned out from around the column as far as she dared, wings quivering with excitement and feathers fluffed in anticipation.

She watched as her newest little fairy joined the others in the chase, blending in with the buzz of wings and angry chirps.

Jack Frost just continued to glide around the pool, blatantly ignorant of his pursuers' lacking amusement as he laughed and prodded them with his teasings. "Ooh, you almost got me that time!"

The wind tossed him around carelessly, one minute throwing him over their twittering heads, the next jetting him just below their grasping fingers.

The new fairy played along for a bit, getting a feel for his movements, then, just as he was coming down from one of his airborne jaunts – crouched low on the ice and ready to burst forward at jarring speeds – she struck.

The little sprite launched herself through the perpetual wind barrier that seemed to surround the wintry ghost. Tooth could feel the simpering sort of grin turning up the corners of her lips as her assistant squealed victoriously, clamping her own hands over her mouth to smother an accompanying cheer.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW," Jack complained loudly as the tiny fairy pulled back on his bangs like the leads on one of North's reindeer. The spirit's face turned upward at her helper's insistence, spinning him off balance mid-flight and landing him flat on his back with a painful smack.

The two-three dozen or so other fairies that had been involved in the pursuit immediately latched on to the prone trickster, ruffling through his shirt and cloak in search of stolen teeth and _maybe _getting a jab or two in with those needle-sharp beaks just for good measure.

"Hm," Toothiana hummed, leaning against the pillar and crossing her arms over her chest with a satisfied nod and silky smile.

Another pitched yelp. "Hey, okay, okay, ow, cut it out, okay, I get it, _stop!_" The winter's spirit rolled around a bit uselessly before gently throwing the invasive fairies off with a small burst of wind. He made a show of ruffling his silvery hair, presumably trying to shake off the feeling of tiny fingers yanking at his roots.

He sat up with a quiet chuckle as her gold-crested Mini Fairy immediately pressed back into his personal space, the tip of her beak hovering dangerously close to the end of his colorless nose as she chirped wordless, angry accusations.

"Hey, I've not seen you before," he mused, ignoring the ire yet again and tilting his head to one side almost endearingly, "You the little boss-lady around here?"

The fairy trilled in irritation and Jack Frost arched his head back, staring briefly at the mural he must have caught a glimpse of somewhere between all the trouble-making and whiplash.

Tooth almost blushed as he studied the painting of herself, surrounded by fairies, collecting teeth of children all over the world, and pressed herself a little further back into her hiding place, not willing to be seen.

He shrugged suddenly, flipping his gaze back on-level with the small fairy. "Guess not." He hopped up with a small gust of wind, his bare feet touching down on the frosty surface of the frozen grotto with comfortable familiarity.

"That's too bad," he sighed dramatically, the impish glint lighting back behind those pale blue eyes. "And I went to all the trouble of gathering up that present for her. Be a shame for it to go to waste."

With a mindless flick of his wrist, as though he were tossing up a ball he meant to catch, four glittering shards of ivory kissed the cool night air. He didn't even bat an eye when four of the fairies immediately snatched them up and shot off into the darkness to have them filed away.

Tooth instantly felt herself let out a breath and relax just the tiniest degree. One less stress to worry herself over, though she expected it was too much to hope he might end his teeth thieving ways altogether. At least he was still returning them, she guessed that ought to count for something.

With the stolen teeth gathered up, her fairies almost immediately lost interest in the elusive Trickster Prince, a few sticking out their tongues and pulling faces at him as they turned to leave the spirit to his humorless jokes. Children to see, teeth to collect, time better spent elsewhere than egging on the mischief; that was for sure.

"Hey, that wasn't it!" he sounded merrily, tapping his staff against the lake surface, curling an intricate vine-like pattern across the ice. He seemed thoroughly content to watch the frost snake its way around inlet. "The present, I mean."

A few fairies hung back, including her eyes on the ground, more wary of leaving the stranger alone in their home than truly curious about his supposed offering.

"I wanted to give it to whoever's in charge... don't suppose she's around?" He played on the last word like musical note, as though he was just about to bend around the corner with it and ensnare her in another one of his ploys.

Tooth knew better than to trust a practiced jester like him. Her feathers bristle in apprehension. She suddenly felt much too close to the scene for comfort, like some kind of blue and green iridescent flag just screaming 'right here!' She briefly considered fleeing, but decided that would only draw more attention than it would avoid.

Her little helper's eyes flickered up to the floating platform on which she rested, small hands wringing together nervously.

Cold air suddenly billowed in around Tooth's tower, the sound of bare feet slapping against solid stone unnervingly near. "What's up here?" Jack Frost's voice up-close, heard through her own ears was crisp, light, and full of promised laughter. If she hadn't been so fearful of discovery she might have rather enjoyed the sound of it.

But he was coming closer! She stumbled back clumsily, unaccustomed to actually using her legs for movement. Only her feathered feet, soft and noiseless, saved her from making any kind of ungodly ruckus.

"Hellooo?" He continued his turn around the pillar, matching every one of Tooth's retreating footfalls with one of his own. Except his stride was far greater and he had the benefit of moving forward instead of backwards. "Hey, Tooth–!"

Just as the hook of his staff reached around to tip her nose – the Tooth Fairy sucked in a harsh breath – about four dozen of her Mini Fairies suddenly rushed the icy spirit, stopping him where he stood.

Her new little helper stood at the forefront, squeaking off a list of reprimands she was sure he couldn't really understand. She flew around his face, bobbing back and forth, threatening at any moment to lose her patience with the boy and skewer some precious portion of his face on her pointed beak.

"Ah, hey, listen little Baby Tooth, I didn't mean any harm, I just wanted to– OW! Okay, just wanted to nothing. My mistake. Nevermind."

Toothiana, crept back around the column away from the commotion, heart pounding in her throat. She seemed to find it in herself to swallow the misplaced organ, a single hand over her chest as she concentrated on calming her shaky breath.

It suddenly struck her as strange, the whole situation. Really, this was _her _Tooth Palace. _Her _home. She was within every right to simply float around the corner, head held high, and order the wayward spirit out, to leave her teeth alone, and play his silly tricks elsewhere. She was a Guardian for the Moon's sake!

But she didn't. And, perhaps more importantly, she _wouldn't_.

Just a very small portion of her heart, against the superior logic that screamed against it in her mind, appreciated and maybe so much as... enjoyed the minor distraction from her regular routine. As stupid and dangerous as that was. The Fairy Queen loved the children and what she did with every ounce of her soul, but two thousand some odd years was a long time to go with no sort of break in the daily norm.

"You know, you're kind of a twerp," Jack Frost cackled, jolting her out of the reverie.

Almost magnetically, perhaps a still little moreso than a bit dazed from her ponderings, Tooth followed the curve of the column so she was only just back and away from her not-unwelcome-not-welcome intruder. _Just a peak wouldn't hurt_.

Ever so cautiously, Toothiana leaned out from around the turn, wanting to see the boy with her own eyes.

_Sun and Stars...! _Her hands flashed to her mouth, trying desperately to push down the surprised squeal that tempted her tongue.

His back was to her, but his head quarter turned to address the gold-crested fairy he was playfully boxing back with his fingertips.

_He's so... cute. _Tooth was almost painfully inclined to fawn as she took the stranger in. He was the tall, lanky sort; she wouldn't have even made it to his shoulder at full height. His hair a perfect, shimmering white that fell across forehead in what seemed to be whatever manner it chose. His eyes, that from afar had seemed almost flat in their paleness, were surprisingly sharp, all the wit and sass just torturing the surface. And so young, maybe seventeen when he was chosen.

_And not much older now, _she chastised herself silently. _You're way too many times his elder to be sighing over how dreamy his smile is._

_ Not that age matters much when you're talking about two immo__r__tals, _a stubborn corner of her mind argued innocently.

_Quiet you.__ He still steals teeth and causes trouble for your friends, charming smile notwithstanding._

_S_he might have just held herself around the bend a bit too long as she battled out her internal monologue, or perhaps her squeal was not quite so muffled as she would have liked, as his gaze swiveled back in her direction.

She dove back behind the safety of the pillar, heart once again hammering away at the inside of her ribs.

_Didn't see me, didn't see me, didn't see me..._

The world was painfully silent for the longest minute in Toothiana's millennia's long life... and then he chuckled quietly.

"Huh, well, guess I'm not going to get to see the Boss today," there was a indulging sort of quality to the statement, disappointment void and voice utterly chipper.

"I'll leave my present with you then, Baby Tooth." The sound of weighted cloth whistling through the air, then an odd sort of clink as the bundle was caught on the end of his weathered staff. Jack carefully placed the package down on the stone platform before turning back to the Mini Fairy. "Make sure she gets it, okay?"

With a clever wink, one that Tooth wistfully regretted not being able to witness for herself, he was off, carried away on the Northern Wind with only the echo of his ghostly laughter as farewell.

After a few minutes the Fairy Queen assured herself the Winter Spirit _had _actually gone – the air returning to its natural, soft warmth – she emerged, wings lifting her off the ground with a gentle sigh of relief.

The other fairies had dispersed, off to resume their nightly duties, but her new assistant had remained, curiously guarding over the mysterious bundle. As her mother approached she sung encouragingly, fluttering up to her feathered shoulder.

What could _Jack Frost_ of all creatures possibly want leave her?

She lifted the rough burlap into her arms and picked at the tight knot sealing the bag closed, wondering quietly to herself where she stood on the the subject Winter Spirits. When the thread finally fell away under her prying fingers she wasted no time delving one hand into its secret contents, her impatience at last having gotten the better of her.

What she came away with struck speechless.

_Teeth?_

Her fingers loosened on the cool pearl colored trophies of childhood, letting them slip back into the satchel with the others – one hundred and forty three to be precise, each soft white and perfectly unharmed. The memories within whispered to her; laughing, crying, smiling, dancing, full of love, anger, confusion, and misunderstanding.

Tears stung her eyes as her dear little fairies came to relieve her of the package, one by one plucking the snow-salted milk teeth from the simple burlap sack and carrying them off to be filed away for safekeeping.

"Baby Tooth?" The Fairy Queen tested the name, finding she rather liked the sound of it.

Her little companion peeped curiously.

"Can I ask... I didn't get to see for myself..." She pressed a light hand to her fluttering heart, her lips curled into a shy smile. "What were _his_ teeth like?"

She listened as the fairy delighted in a chorus of animated squeals, a light blush crossing over the bridge of her nose.

"Like freshly fallen snow?" she breathed.

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**AN: Thanks so much for reading! Reviews greatly appreciated :-**

**This oneshot came in at just over 3,500 words. Originally posted: 8/1/14**

**-TheMonsterGirl**


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